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Heavenbound I Book One
= *Prologue* = A last gush of water chased after the cats as they just barely cleared a fallen tree. It splashed up against the bark, as if furiously spitting at the cats for escaping. The Clan deputy, a silver tabby she-cat with soft green eyes named Ripplefall, spoke first, breaking the thick-laden silence. "We need to find a new camp, and quick before leaf-fall and leaf-bare set in. I also really hope the other Clans don't see we're weakened..." FogClan's leader, Foxstar, a scarlet tom with blue eyes, looked thoughtful. "You're right, but where?" A dark grey tom swished his tail toward the gorge. "There could be someplace on the other side that's suitable." Foxstar shook his head. "Don't forget GorgeClan's over there, Mountainstripe. We can't go there..." Ripplefall looked thoughtful. "There's more free territory that's good just beyond where it flooded" she meowed. "We could stay there, and keep at least one of our borders." Foxstar looked around doubtfully. "I don't see any more land that's not too far away." "Could I show you?" Foxstar nodded. "Why not? If you see good land, we'll just have to take it." Ripplefall gestured with her tail as she started making her way back towards the flooding. Some of it had dried up, but not much. She led them deeper into the flooding, and then over a hill that had a hole in the bottom where the water had shot through. Clear land lay before them with trees dotting the vastness of grass. A small stream trickled from the bottom of the hill, chattering peacefully. "I'd guess what was causing the floodage was the rainfall, then it probably overfilled underground and did this" Foxstar mewed, his eyes narrow as he observed how the thin stream chattered from the base of the slope and on the other side, water gushed through a hole that it had blown. "Good eye, Ripplefall." The deputy bowed her silver head in embarrassment at the praise. She raised her head again and began looking around for anything they could use to build up walls or a place they could use to shelter. Her green eyes rested on a semicircle of trees that consealed the land behind it. "Foxstar, look!" The mighty russet tom followed Ripplefall's gaze and his face lit up when he saw what she did. "Just what we needed" he purred. "We have lots of land here and a good shelter. We're also not too far from the other Clans or Fourtrees just over the gorge." He led his Clan toward it, creating borders along the way. The medicine cat, a pale yellow she-cat with grey splotches and blue eyes named Lilystripe, had fallen slightly behind the group as she collected herbs. "I hadn't seen a prophecy of floodage or danger" she murmured to Foxstar apologetically. She brightened again before adding, "Nor had StarClan said anything of luck afterwards, but here we are, finding even better territory and a nice, consealed camp." = *Chapter One* = The large grey kit was stretched comfotably in the late newleaf sun as it set and bathed the sand and the grass in scarlet waves. Her deep, moss-green eyes were half-closed and glazed in exhaustion, and her white-tipped tail lazily brushed the warm sand she was sprawled in. Hearing a scuffling sound behind her, she opened her eyes and turned her head to see her sister, Beekit, a golden-furred tabby kit, emerging from the nursery. "Hi, Mosskit" she mewed, settling herself into a sitting position in the warm sand. "Hungry?" Mosskit nodded. "Famished." She slowly stood up and shook the sand off her pelt. Beekit's soft amber eyes soaked into Mosskit's affectionately. She also stood up, starting towards the heap of fresh-kill that was nestled safely into a small hollow dug out under the side of their leader, Foxstar's log den. "That rabbit looks like plenty for the two of us" Mosskit remarked, nodding her head at a large rabbit that was lying on the edge of the pile. She felt hunger twist again in her stomach and she longed to set her teeth into the prey's seemingly succulent flesh. Beekit nodded and leaned forward, picking up the oversized rodent in her jaws. She started back towards the nursery and sat down under an oak tree. She swiped away some of the buds that had fallen and set the rabbit down in the shade. Mosskit pranced over to her sister and sat down in the fresh-grown grass. She bent down, feeling dizzy with hunger, and took a couple hasty bites out of the rabbit she and her sister selected. She listened to the comforting sighing of the wind as she gulped down more of it. "I'm excited to be an apprentice" she mewed tiredly to Beekit, swiping her tongue over her lips and looking out on the darkening, fog-dusted clearing. Beekit nodded. "We're just barely over six moons old..." Her voice trailed off into a yawn. "And then we'll get to train and serve the Clan." A cat was approaching them, its features still unfamilier. "It's our mother" Mosskit meowed, taking in the fresh scent of Hollytail, a white she-cat with black splotches and Mosskit's deep green eyes. "You two need to get your rest" Hollytail meowed as she approached her kits. Mosskit groaned. "I guess it will make tomorrow come faster" she muttered irritably to Beekit. Beekit nodded and trailed after their mother with her head bowed. Mosskit followed them into the nursery and settled herself in a nest next to Honeykit. She dreamed of adventuring and going on patrols with Beekit after tomorrow, curious of who her mentor would be, and what dangers she would soon face in her service... = *Chapter Two* = The wind ruffled Beekit's golden tabby fur as she stood excitedly in front. Her sister, Mosskit was beside her, standing with great dignity and calmness. She caught a flash of anticipation in her eye, and could smell that she was excited, even if she wouldn't be obvious about it. "Mosskit and Beekit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to be apprenticed" Foxstar meowed broadly from the Highrock. "Beekit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Beepaw. Your mentor will be Dimwhisker. I hope Dimwhisker will pass down all he knows on to you." Dimwhisker, a dark brown tom with black stripes, emerged from the crowd. His icy blue eyes were full of strength unmistakable pride. "Dimwhisker" Foxstar began again, "you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have recieved excellent training from Brightstorm and you've shown your-self to be loyal and strong. You will be the mentor of Beepaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Dimwhisker bowed his head and touched his nose to Beepaw's. Beepaw felt an extreme amount of pride course through her veins. She let herself be con-sumed by the Clan's chanting; "Beepaw! Beepaw!" Foxstar waited a few moments before flicking his tail for silence. He drew himself up and began the ceremony again for Mosskit. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Mosspaw. Your mentor will be Ripplefall. I hope Ripplefall will pass down all she knows on to you. The lithe silver she-cat looked up at Foxstar from her spot beside the Highrock, her tail swishing and her ears flicking as she listened. "Ripplefall, you are ready to take on another apprentice. You had received excellent training from Bloodwhisker and you have shown your skill by mentoring Mountainstripe. You will now be the mentor of Mosspaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her." Ripplefall smiled and stood up and began approaching Mosspaw. She lowered her head and touched her nose to Mosspaw's, then lifted it back up and began the welcoming chant, encouraging the rest of the Clan to do the same. "Mosspaw! Mosspaw!" Something just didn't feel right to Beepaw, and it wasn't that she shouldn't have been apprenticed now, and it wasn't anything inside of her Clan at the moment but something was really wrong, and she could tell that Mosspaw was sensing it too... = *Chapter Three* = Mosspaw felt excitement flare up inside of her as she, Dimwhisker, and Beepaw treaded through the forest toward Spidercliffs, a series of small, rocky hills where the apprentices trained. "Wow!" Beepaw's astonished mew startled Mosspaw. "Spidercliffs looks so... so mighty!" Mosspaw nodded absently, lost in awe as she stared at the boulder-covered hills. She shivered at the thought of spiders swarming over the hills, but pushed away the thought and looked around some more. She spotted a large patch of sand between the two largest slopes where she guessed they would be training. Dimwhisker turned his head from the front of the group, reading Mosspaw's expression. His whiskers twitched with amusement. "It's not called Spidercliffs because there's lots of spiders" he explained. "It's called what it is because a long time ago, in the times of the Great Clans, this was a harvest place where medicine cats would go to collect cobwebs, so it was names Spidercliffs." Mosspaw felt her shoulders sag with relief. She respected all living things, but spiders made her feel kind of itchy and uncomfortable. She heard a rustling in the bushes, and though it sounded distant, she turned around and saw a FogClan patrol working their way through the bushes. "Thanks for taking me training today" she suddenly mewed to Dimwhisker. She had seen Ripplefall on the patrol very briefly before she, and the rest of the patrol, disappeared into the heather. The she-cat had a lot of strength left, considering that she was older than the second-oldest senior warrior. But Dimwhisker and Beepaw were already setting paw on Spidercliffs. She shook her head and scrambled clumsily towards the soft, patchy ground, strugg-ling to find a pawhold out of her shock. "Sorry, I'm coming!" she howled to Dimwhisker. "I didn't realize you started heading away" she panted when she skidded to a halt beside Beepaw. Beepaw snickered. Dimwhisker looked down at Mosspaw with narrowed eyes. "It's alright" he meowed before turning around and started leading them over to the sand-filled dip in the ground. "Now, I want to see what you already know by default" Dimwhisker mewed. "Attack one another." Mosspaw rapidly tried to remember what she'd seen the warriors do in battle. But Beepaw was already flying through the air. She landed on top of Mosspaw with her claws sheathed, knocking the wind out of her. She pinned her to the ground and gave her a soft nip before she leapt off. "Mosspaw, why didn't you do anything?" Beepaw hissed in her ear. Mosspaw shook her head. "I was trying to remember what I'd seen the warriors doing..." "Try again. Mosspaw, this time you attack Beepaw." Dimwhisker's low voice cut Mosspaw off. "Go." Mosspaw tensed, forgetting her embarrassment, and sprang hard onto Beepaw's back. Her sister fliched, but she shook herself violently, causing Mosspaw to lose her grip. Before Mosspaw could latch on again, Beepaw turned her hed and tried to nip her off. But Mosspaw stayed on, and scored her paw against Beepaw's muzzle as she would with her claws. She mock-bit her sister and leapt off. She felt proud of herself as she tried to regain her breath. "Very good, both of you" Dimwhisker commented. "We'll work on that later, but for now let's try hunting." He slipped down into a crouch, muscles rippling under his dark pelt as he worked his way across the clearing. "You try." Mosspaw padded across the clearing towards the tree where a large squirrel hole was dug low on the wide trunk. She leapt to the top of the hill in front of it, though it was a platform below the abandoned squirrel hole, with a single bound and called softly inside for Lilystripe. The small yellow she-cat emerged from her den, the strong, sweet stench of herbs clinging to her fur. "Hello, Mosspaw. What do you need?" "I've got a bad bellyache" Mosspaw replied. Her stomach screamed in pain from training all day long. Lilystripe nodded and disappeared back into the small hollow. She poked her head out again, this time holding a cone-shaped root in her mouth. "Chew on it, and it'll help your bellyache." Mosspaw thanked Lilystripe, then took the root and padded back down the slope in front of the huge oak tree where the medicine cat slept and stored her precious herbs. The forest chattered around her as she slipped into the main clearing again, vigarously chewing the root. "Mosspaw!" Mosspaw turned to see that Ripplefall was calling her. "Could you go and take some fresh-kill to the elders?" Mosspaw sighed but nodded, swallowing the last bit of the root and pulling a chaffinch out of the fresh-kill pile. She clumsily walked the plump bird over to the mass off wind-felled trees that created a hollow den where the elders stayed. Beepaw nearly bumped into her as she was leaving the elder's hollow. "Oh, hi Mosspaw. You should take that chaffinch over to Grasstail and Honeyfeather. They're super thin..." Mosspaw nodded and started picking her way through the rain-proof den until she spotted the blue-grey, white-splotched pelt of Grasstail and the yellow, grey-tipped tail of Honeyfeather, who was actually Lilystripe's mother. Honeyfeather's usually-sleek pelt was dull, and so were her deep amber eyes. Grasstail moaned uncomfortably beside her, and when Mosspaw looked at him she saw his ribs jutting out from underneath his matted fur. "Thank you so much" Honeyfeather croaked as Mosspaw set down the prey. Grasstail nodded at her in thanks and began half-heartedly but hungrily tearing at the chaffinch. Suddenly, he started coughing fitfully, blood oozing out of his mouth. He vomited a lot more than he should, especially when he was as thin as he was. Panicking, Mosspaw scrambled out of the den and toward the giant oak tree where Lilystripe sheltered. She leapt to the crest of the hill with ease now that her bellyache was gone. "Lilystripe!" The young medicine cat peeked out of the squirrel's hole. "What now, Mosspaw?" she mewed, surprised to see her there again. "You have to come to the elder's hollow--now." Lilystripe sighed. "Alright, if it's that urgent." She shook her pelt and bounded after Mosspaw, who was tearing across the clearing to the elder's hollow. Mosspaw lead her over to the two sickeningly thin elders. The medicine cat stared, horrifyed at the scene. Honeyfeather glanced triedly up at her daughter, affection making her stand up shakily and lick Lilystripe's muzzle. Lilystripe's face brightened a little, but it fell into shadow again as she saw how thinm her mother was. "Lay down, mother" she murmured gently. Honeyfeather lowered herself back onto the soft moss, grunting with effort. More to herself, she muttered, "What kind of sickness is this..?" Mosspaw churned the ground with her paws as she watched Lilystripe examine Grasstail. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat as she saw no movement of his white-splotched flank. Lilystripe slowly sat up again, grief smeared across her face and welling up in her eyes. "Grasstail is dead."